Michael Moyer
@mmoyer.bsky.social
The executive editor of quantamagazine.org. Big nerd about cosmic paradoxes, livable cities, trail running, cocktails.
Reposted by Michael Moyer
We saw it with big tobacco, we saw it with the fossil fuels industry. When their own internal research showed the harm from their product, the defunded the research and attacked independent researchers coming to the very same conclusions.
#ScienceUnderSiege
#ScienceUnderSiege
Meta halted internal research that purportedly showed (young) people who stopped using Facebook became less depressed and anxious, according to an unredacted legal filing released on Friday. www.cnbc.com/2025/11/23/m...
Meta halted internal research suggesting social media harm, court filing alleges
Meta is alleged to have halted internal research suggesting social media harm, according to court documents.
www.cnbc.com
November 24, 2025 at 1:59 AM
We saw it with big tobacco, we saw it with the fossil fuels industry. When their own internal research showed the harm from their product, the defunded the research and attacked independent researchers coming to the very same conclusions.
#ScienceUnderSiege
#ScienceUnderSiege
It's hard to escape the conclusion that the people in charge of medical research in this country think that medical research—indeed, all of modern medicine—is bad.
EXCLUSIVE: CDC to end all monkey studies. Decision handed down by recent college grad and former DOGE employee who is now deputy chief of staff at the agency. Animals were being used in studies of HIV prevention. Some may be euthanized. My latest for @science.org
Exclusive: CDC to end all monkey research
Studies related to HIV and other infectious diseases will be phased out, sources say; fate of the agency's animals remains unclear
www.science.org
November 21, 2025 at 6:51 PM
It's hard to escape the conclusion that the people in charge of medical research in this country think that medical research—indeed, all of modern medicine—is bad.
Apropos of nothing, have you ever wondered why magnets work? www.quantamagazine.org/the-cartoon-...
The Cartoon Picture of Magnets That Has Transformed Science
One hundred years after it was proposed, the Ising model is used to understand everything from magnets to brains.
www.quantamagazine.org
November 10, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Apropos of nothing, have you ever wondered why magnets work? www.quantamagazine.org/the-cartoon-...
Reposted by Michael Moyer
this shit looks like someone’s about to shoot franz ferdinand
NVIDIA and OpenAi:
Concerns that their “increasingly complex and interconnected web of business transactions is artificially propping up the trillion-dollar AI boom.“
@bloomberg.com $NVDA 👀
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
Concerns that their “increasingly complex and interconnected web of business transactions is artificially propping up the trillion-dollar AI boom.“
@bloomberg.com $NVDA 👀
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
October 7, 2025 at 11:35 PM
this shit looks like someone’s about to shoot franz ferdinand
I realize that Bob Iger does not personally read the explanations people give when they cancel Disney+, but still, it was cathartic.
September 18, 2025 at 5:11 PM
I realize that Bob Iger does not personally read the explanations people give when they cancel Disney+, but still, it was cathartic.
Reposted by Michael Moyer
September 18, 2025 at 1:58 PM
My colleagues just posted an incredibly ambitious series about the science of climate science. I hope you'll check it out: www.quantamagazine.org/how-we-came-...
How We Came To Know Earth | Quanta Magazine
Climate science is the most significant scientific collaboration in history. This series from Quanta Magazine guides you through basic climate science — from quantum effects to ancient hothouses, from...
www.quantamagazine.org
September 15, 2025 at 3:22 PM
My colleagues just posted an incredibly ambitious series about the science of climate science. I hope you'll check it out: www.quantamagazine.org/how-we-came-...
Reposted by Michael Moyer
Seeking science journalists: @quantamagazine.bsky.social is hiring a physics editor!
A rare opportunity to join this great team and lead coverage of this foundational vertical. Please reach out with any questions and share widely
simonsfoundation.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/simons...
A rare opportunity to join this great team and lead coverage of this foundational vertical. Please reach out with any questions and share widely
simonsfoundation.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/simons...
Physics Editor, Quanta Magazine
POSITION SUMMARY Quanta is seeking an editor to contribute to the magazine’s award-winning physics coverage. This editor will be tasked with finding the most exciting developments in the world of the ...
simonsfoundation.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
August 20, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Seeking science journalists: @quantamagazine.bsky.social is hiring a physics editor!
A rare opportunity to join this great team and lead coverage of this foundational vertical. Please reach out with any questions and share widely
simonsfoundation.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/simons...
A rare opportunity to join this great team and lead coverage of this foundational vertical. Please reach out with any questions and share widely
simonsfoundation.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/simons...
I've subscribed to Defector since week 1 and it is great, long live blogs.
For a limited time, you can try out three months of Defector blogs for less than the price of a happy hour pint. I hope you will do it, because I think the blogs are good and the more people that subscribe the more we can hire. defector.com/defector-is-...
Defector Is Celebrating Its Fifth Birthday By Giving You A Big Fat Discount | Defector
Defector turns five next month. At last week’s offsite meetings, we celebrated that accomplishment and talked seriously about the 10-year mark—how we’re going to get there, and what we want Defector t...
defector.com
August 20, 2025 at 1:18 PM
I've subscribed to Defector since week 1 and it is great, long live blogs.
Saw my first Waymo in NYC (w/ driver).
Same spot, 30 seconds earlier, a Jeep with monster-truck tires made an illegal U-turn across two double-yellow lines and nearly hit a cyclist.
Same spot, 30 seconds earlier, a Jeep with monster-truck tires made an illegal U-turn across two double-yellow lines and nearly hit a cyclist.
August 13, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Saw my first Waymo in NYC (w/ driver).
Same spot, 30 seconds earlier, a Jeep with monster-truck tires made an illegal U-turn across two double-yellow lines and nearly hit a cyclist.
Same spot, 30 seconds earlier, a Jeep with monster-truck tires made an illegal U-turn across two double-yellow lines and nearly hit a cyclist.
Reposted by Michael Moyer
This is very odd - we've found loads of articles attempting to discredit these scientists, all anonymously published. It's still unclear who is producing these articles, and why
Academics who have questioned the validity of efforts to “de-extinct” animals like the woolly mammoth and the dire wolf have complained of an apparent campaign to discredit them.
Critics of de-extinction research hit by mystery smear campaign
Several researchers who have been critical of Colossal Biosciences’ plans to revive extinct animals say they have been targeted by online articles trying to discredit them
www.newscientist.com
August 1, 2025 at 10:52 AM
This is very odd - we've found loads of articles attempting to discredit these scientists, all anonymously published. It's still unclear who is producing these articles, and why
Reposted by Michael Moyer
One thing we’re going to see a *lot* of: Pieces that appear to explore an intellectually provocative question inspired by AI, but that assume a premise (in this case “friendship with a chatbot is possible”) that’s a) nonsensical and b) perfectly aligned with the aims of AI marketing
What Would a Real Friendship With A.I. Look Like? Maybe Like Hers.
www.nytimes.com
July 20, 2025 at 3:31 PM
One thing we’re going to see a *lot* of: Pieces that appear to explore an intellectually provocative question inspired by AI, but that assume a premise (in this case “friendship with a chatbot is possible”) that’s a) nonsensical and b) perfectly aligned with the aims of AI marketing
Humans are excellent at smelling things! Better than dogs, sometimes.
The reason why we're told otherwise is due to a mistranslation of a 19th-century French theory of what makes humans special.
And Freud. He didn't help, either.
The reason why we're told otherwise is due to a mistranslation of a 19th-century French theory of what makes humans special.
And Freud. He didn't help, either.
A better understanding of human smell is emerging as scientists interrogate its fundamental elements: the odor molecules that enter your nose and the individual neurons that translate them into perception in your brain. @yaseminsaplakoglu.bsky.social reports:
www.quantamagazine.org/how-smell-gu...
www.quantamagazine.org/how-smell-gu...
How Smell Guides Our Inner World | Quanta Magazine
A better understanding of human smell is emerging as scientists interrogate its fundamental elements: the odor molecules that enter your nose and the individual neurons that translate them into percep...
www.quantamagazine.org
July 3, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Humans are excellent at smelling things! Better than dogs, sometimes.
The reason why we're told otherwise is due to a mistranslation of a 19th-century French theory of what makes humans special.
And Freud. He didn't help, either.
The reason why we're told otherwise is due to a mistranslation of a 19th-century French theory of what makes humans special.
And Freud. He didn't help, either.
Data: People who eat 1 hot dog a day (!!!)
Expert conclusion: Maybe eat less
Headline: NO SAFE AMOUNT
www.cnn.com/2025/07/02/h...
Expert conclusion: Maybe eat less
Headline: NO SAFE AMOUNT
www.cnn.com/2025/07/02/h...
July 3, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Data: People who eat 1 hot dog a day (!!!)
Expert conclusion: Maybe eat less
Headline: NO SAFE AMOUNT
www.cnn.com/2025/07/02/h...
Expert conclusion: Maybe eat less
Headline: NO SAFE AMOUNT
www.cnn.com/2025/07/02/h...
Reposted by Michael Moyer
NEW: NSF will be kicked out of their building. Announcement will be made tomorrow by HUD Sec. and Governor of VA. HUD will take over the NSF building over the next two years.
NSF staffer: "There is no planning for NSF, no identified future location, appropriation for a new building or a move."
NSF staffer: "There is no planning for NSF, no identified future location, appropriation for a new building or a move."
June 24, 2025 at 10:20 PM
NEW: NSF will be kicked out of their building. Announcement will be made tomorrow by HUD Sec. and Governor of VA. HUD will take over the NSF building over the next two years.
NSF staffer: "There is no planning for NSF, no identified future location, appropriation for a new building or a move."
NSF staffer: "There is no planning for NSF, no identified future location, appropriation for a new building or a move."
RIP William Langewiesche, the master of illuminating difficult subjects (engineering, airplanes, etc.) with riveting narratives www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/b...
William Langewiesche, the ‘Steve McQueen of Journalism,’ Dies at 70
www.nytimes.com
June 16, 2025 at 9:37 PM
RIP William Langewiesche, the master of illuminating difficult subjects (engineering, airplanes, etc.) with riveting narratives www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/b...
Reposted by Michael Moyer
I know the reporters generally don’t write the headlines; when they’re this bad someone should come out and own it to take the heat off the reporter. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
June 12, 2025 at 8:13 PM
I know the reporters generally don’t write the headlines; when they’re this bad someone should come out and own it to take the heat off the reporter. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Mortgaging your brand to publish lots of mediocre work in the service of editorial volume used to be called a "blog network." www.nytimes.com/2025/06/03/b...
The Washington Post Plans an Influx of Outside Opinion Writers
www.nytimes.com
June 4, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Mortgaging your brand to publish lots of mediocre work in the service of editorial volume used to be called a "blog network." www.nytimes.com/2025/06/03/b...
Reposted by Michael Moyer
Herr Doktor von Braun would like a word
May 30, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Herr Doktor von Braun would like a word
Reposted by Michael Moyer
Do singularities exist? I'd always thought they were purely mathematical artifacts, but recent work in mathematical physics work from @bousso.bsky.social and others hint otherwise (for sufficiently broad definitions of "singularities" and "exist").
www.quantamagazine.org/singularitie...
www.quantamagazine.org/singularitie...
Singularities in Space-Time Prove Hard to Kill | Quanta Magazine
Black hole and Big Bang singularities break our best theory of gravity. A trilogy of theorems hints that physicists will need to go to the ends of space and time to find a fix.
www.quantamagazine.org
May 27, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Do singularities exist? I'd always thought they were purely mathematical artifacts, but recent work in mathematical physics work from @bousso.bsky.social and others hint otherwise (for sufficiently broad definitions of "singularities" and "exist").
www.quantamagazine.org/singularitie...
www.quantamagazine.org/singularitie...
Reposted by Michael Moyer
The comment period for this ends in 3 DAYS. Please leave a comment telling them EVERYONE should be able to get covid boosters.
www.regulations.gov/commenton/FD...
www.regulations.gov/commenton/FD...
May 20, 2025 at 6:13 PM
The comment period for this ends in 3 DAYS. Please leave a comment telling them EVERYONE should be able to get covid boosters.
www.regulations.gov/commenton/FD...
www.regulations.gov/commenton/FD...
Reposted by Michael Moyer
this fucking psychopath has no business leading the agency responsible for the nation’s health. it’s ridiculous!
RFK Jr refuses to say if he would vaccinate his children today for polio
May 14, 2025 at 5:03 PM
this fucking psychopath has no business leading the agency responsible for the nation’s health. it’s ridiculous!
The internet as an ouroboros of machine-generated slop optimized to serve other machines. "Websites in general will evolve to serve primarily as data sources for bots that feed LLMs, rather than destinations for consumers, she said." www.wsj.com/articles/ai-...
AI Has Upended the Search Game. Marketers Are Scrambling to Catch Up.
Websites will soon serve primarily as data sources for AI platforms, not destinations for humans, Mailchimp predicts.
www.wsj.com
May 9, 2025 at 2:28 PM
The internet as an ouroboros of machine-generated slop optimized to serve other machines. "Websites in general will evolve to serve primarily as data sources for bots that feed LLMs, rather than destinations for consumers, she said." www.wsj.com/articles/ai-...